Biała (Vistula)

Bialka river in Silesia

The Biala ( German Bialka ) is a right tributary of the Vistula River in southern Poland. Its length is 28.6 km, the catchment area of ​​139 km ². It rises on the slopes of the mountains Klimczok, Szyndzielnia and Magura ( at an altitude of 800 m) in the Silesian Beskids. It ends at a height of 242 m at Czechowice- Dziedzice into the Vistula. The main tributaries are: Olszówka, Straconka, Niwka, Krzywa and Kromparek. The following cities are located on the river: Bystra, Bielsko- Biała and Czechowice- Dziedzice. Since 1316, the river was the border between the Silesian duchies of Teschen and Auschwitz. For many centuries the Bialka was the border between the historical regions of Silesia and Galicia ( Lesser Poland ) and between the old dioceses Wroclaw and Krakow. Therefore, the two cities Bielsko ( Bielsko ) and Biala ( Biała) were separated. The merger took place only in 1951. Nowadays the county Saybusch ( Żywiec ) belongs to the Silesian Voivodeship and the border of Lesser Poland lies to the east.